Hounds Rising

Rhokhishi awoke and felt instant excitement. She turned over in bed and stared at the engraved calendar on the wall. Large letters ran across the top, spelling out Fogblum. Below it, numbers ran in rows of five, from one to thirty-five. The numbers one through twenty-seven had been struck through, showing that it was the twenty-eighth of the month. It felt like forever since she had been to Moonbright’s Magic Mixtures, but today was the day Nes told Rhokhishi that her commissioned item would be ready.

She used the water basin to freshen up, then brushed and braided her hair before putting on her clothes and armor. She looked at her tall and muscular frame in a mirror next to the mannequin that held her armor. Her greener skin and slight tusks were usually the first thing people noticed about her, but it was something she had her whole life, so her attention was on the little scarring and marks that were on her arms and near her neck. Each was a lesson she had learned about the world around her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling and turning towards the door.

In the main chamber, she saw Lyla and Myla had already woken and were placing their money pouches on their belts. Further away, she could hear someone in the kitchen, a slight song wafting through the air.

“Good morning, twins.”

“Good morning, Kiki,” Lyla replied while stifling a yawn.

“Do you have any plans today, Rhokhishi?” Myla asked her.

“Yes! I’m going to the magic shop to speak to Nes. I put a deposit down, and he is supposed to have something finished for me today.”

“Oh, nice! We’re going there as well. We should go together,” Myla stated.

Rhokhishi opened the door for them and then stepped out of the tower. The air had a chill, and the leaves had already been turning deep shades of red and orange as they fell from their trees. Rhokhishi could feel the cold with each inhale and saw her breath on each exhale. Though she was sleeveless, she didn’t feel much of the cold on her skin, but she could see it on the twins, who shivered slightly and warmed their hands frequently on the walk from the Iredale district to Ghostway. People swarmed the streets, walking from their homes with carts and wheelbarrows that they used to deliver their wares at the many noble houses in Moonbright before making it to their businesses and positions on the street where they sold their various items.

As they approached Moonbright’s Magic Mixtures, Rhokhishi saw the dragonborn owner opening his door to place an open sign on the front of his building. Nes saw them walking closer and kept the door open to invite them in. His red scales contrasted the blue robes he wore today with a golden lining embroidered into it. He lowered his head in a slight bow, gestured them in, and politely smiled as they entered the brightly lit interior of his shop.

“Good morning, Lyla, Myla, Rhokhishi.”

“Morning, Eralasar, sir,” Myla politely replied.

“I can imagine why you are here today,” He started, walking back towards his desk and sitting on the other side.

Rhokhishi could hear him open and close a drawer from under his desk, then bring up a small box. Rhokhishi watched as he slowly opened the box, the light shining off the various gems and metal placed over the wood, and pulled out a small pouch made of blackened leather. Carefully, he put it on a small display pillow and pushed it across his desk while gesturing to Rhokhishi to walk forward. Excitedly, she stepped up and opened the pouch.

Inside, three metallic balls sat, glowing a slight bluish hue. She reached in, pulled them out, and felt the weight of each one before throwing the first into the air to test it. After a moment, Rhokhishi threw it back up, the next, and the last, feeling the first hit her hand and transfer to her other as she began juggling them in a circular pattern. Even though they were just metal compared to the sacks of rice she was accustomed to, she could feel that something else was special about them.

Nes stood up and walked over to a small area with a tiny “X” marked on the floor. He smiled and pointed at a circular target roughly fifteen feet away.

“Come now, test them.”

Rhokhishi walked over, still juggling them from hand to hand. Standing beside him, she readied and let the first one fly from her hand as the other two kept their rhythm. The ball flew across with a speed she didn’t expect and smashed into the target, sticking into the wood. Adrenaline rushed through her, and she let the next two fly, one after the other, as they made their mark and stuck themselves into the target. She walked over to retrieve them, but Nes lightly placed his large hand on her shoulder.

She turned to face him. He held the leather pouch in his hand and let it fall into her hands. It had more weight than it should, so she looked down. The three metallic balls with a blue hue were already inside. She looked back up at the target and saw that they had disappeared from the target, their damage still showing.

“They return?” She asked.

“Yes. I took a returning pouch and enchanted it to give extra power to the spheres as you pull them out.”

“That’s… amazing! I’ve never been so excited about blue balls before!”

Rhokhishi could hear Lyla snort, but she shook Nes’ hand excitedly and tied the pouch to her belt.

“I believe we agreed on two hundred fifty gold pieces for these, but you already gave me fifty as a deposit, so your total is just two hundred today,” Nes stated calmly.

“Of course, I almost forgot completely!” Rhokhishi pulled twenty platinum pieces from her money pouch and placed them in his hand.

Eralasarr closed his hand and moved it from left to right, then opened it again to gesture towards the twins. Rhokhishi saw that the coins had disappeared from his hand, and she assumed they had magically teleported somewhere else. Myla walked over, seeing that their conversation was over, and pulled out a length of the dragon wing she had taken from the magical bag Leaf owned.

“Sir, I was curious to see if there was a way to update my current leathers with some of this.”

Eralasarr took the organic fabric into his hands and examined it. Myla laid her leather armor on the table beside them and waited for him to speak. Rhokhishi knew Myla was good at hiding and keeping her distance during fights, but better armor would help her small frame.

“There is a type of armor called studded leather. One would take hard pieces of fabric or metal and add them strategically to leather to give it extra protection. I believe this is part of the dragon’s wing that was slain recently, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I believe its strength would do well in crafting studded leather. I could have it done by the end of the day, as I have no other major work today.”

“How much would it cost to have you make this?”

“Oh, I daresay it wouldn’t cost more than forty-five gold to make it, mostly for labor and using my expertise and tools.”

“That is more than fair. Thank you,” Myla replied as she pulled the coin from her purse and handed it over.

“And you? Do you have a request or commission as well?” He asked Lyla.

“Actually… I was worried about time, but I also have some of the same wing that I’d like to make a pair of bracers with. The ones I used to own had broken down a while back, so I wouldn’t have anything to start with,” Lyla explained, pulling another length of the sapphire dragon’s wing.

“Well, I do believe it would be easy enough to make as well. Since I would have to tan the wing first to make it into a hide useful for bracers, it would cost a little more, but having the material already does help. If you pay me forty gold today, I could have it ready on the morning of the Autumn Equinox if you’d pay me two hundred gold pieces by then.”

“Two hundred forty gold in just five days? That’s a deal, Nes!” Lyla brought out her hand and shook his large, clawed hand.

“I think that’s everything we came for today, Nes,” Rhokhishi stated.

“It is welcomed. The next few days would have been quite slow, so this is a nice surprise,” Eralasarr replied. “If there is anything else, you know where to find me. I’ll get started on this now.”

Eralasarr gave a slight nod, then took the material down a hallway. Lyla opened the front door, and they strolled to the Archmage Tower. Rhokhishi juggled her new blue balls down the street and listened as the twins excitedly discussed what Nes would create for them.